LIB DEM DONOR FACING JAIL ( AGAIN)
Accused of money laundering in Spain, conman who gave party a record £2.4m
A CONMAN who donated £2.4million of stolen funds to the Liberal Demo - crats has been charged with launder - ing millions of pounds of dirty money in Spain with the help of his wife.
Prosecutors want Michael Brown, 52, and Sharon Campbell, 59, jailed and fined more than £8million.
They allege ‘the volume of the hidden illicit money spent and transferred to other places by the accused’ is more than £2.6million.
But they also say £36million of Brown’s funds is still missing more than a decade after his brazen crimes came to light.
The Lib Dems have repeatedly refused to hand back the £2.4million of stolen funds he donated in 2005, insisting it was accepted in ‘good faith’. It was the biggest donation in the party’s history – but simple checks would have revealed Brown’s dubious background.
Now the playboy is in trouble again. His impending trial in Spain with his wife of 25 years will be extremely embarrassing for the Lib Dems, who start their autumn conference in Brighton today.
The judge-led probe in Majorca was launched at the behest of anti- corruption investigators around the time Brown was completing a jail term for theft and fraud offences in the UK.
The investigating judge agreed to cast a fresh look at whether he had laundered money from his illegal activities through assets in Majorca, including property and various companies. Now a prosecution file details how:
Brown spent some of his ill-gotten gains on two stunning properties in Majorca – one a sprawling Love Island-style house at the resort of Andratx now worth £3million;
He bought a £275,000 yacht, a £61,000 Porsche Cayenne, a £72,000 Jaguar XK8 sports car and a £9,000 Yamaha XVS 650 motorbike;
He spent about £600,000 on hiring private planes;
Dozens of suspicious bank transactions by Brown or companies under his control – involving millions of pounds – are being investigated. Some bank transfers involve offshore accounts and accounts in Switzer - land and the US.
It was near the couple’s property in Esporles, which prosecutors allege was bought with laundered money , that reclusive Brown was photo - graphed carrying a laundry bag . He refused to apologise to his victims and suggested he was not obliged to pay them any money because ‘no confiscation orders’ were made.
The crook, who now styles himself Michael Campbell-Brown, declined to reveal how he came to give so much money to the Lib Dems.
As he returned home in his Porsche Cayenne after a round of golf with his wife, he denied being under investigation for money laundering.
‘Not as far as I know ,’ he said when questioned about the judge - led probe. ‘I have been in jail already.’
Brown, who falsely claimed to have been educated at Gordonstoun and St Andrews, and to have been the son of a lord, is one of Britain ’s most audacious fraudsters.
To boost his status, the smoothtalking Glaswegian – who also boasted that he had links to the US secret service – handed the Lib Dems a record donation to fund their 2005 general election campaign and whisked then party leader Charles Kennedy and other grandees around the country in a private jet.
It seemed too good to be true – as indeed it was. It later emerged that Brown had accrued his enormous wealth by conning huge sums out of trusting investors including former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards, who lost £5million.
The Lib Dems received the £2.4mil - lion of stolen client funds through one of Brown’s firms, Fifth A venue Partners. Its suspicious bank transactions are repeatedly mentioned in the Spanish prosecution papers.
However, sources said his gift to Sir Vince Cable’s party is not part of the prosecution case in Majorca, which focuses on money allegedly laundered on the holiday island.
Brown was nicknamed the ‘Lib Dem Ronnie Biggs’ after jumping bail in London to escape charges involving £36million in swindled funds.
A master of disguise, he was on the run for more than three years before being held in the Dominican Republic and was returned to the UK to serve seven-and-a-half years in jail.
Brown was released in January 2016 halfway through his prison sentence and, after probation, moved to Majorca where he has been living in luxury with his wife Sharon at their £750,000 ‘winter villa ’ overlooking mountains in Esporles.
In his summary of the money laun - dering case in Spain, anti- corruption prosecutor Juan Carrau said: ‘The continued and unjustified number of bank transfers between different accounts controlled by the accused makes no sense and is designed solely to hide the true origin and destina - tion of the funds. At the same time there is no commercial sense in the high number of bank accounts that the accused uses in Spain.
‘The accused Sharon Campbell has taken part with Brown in trying to hide the origin of the funds the other accused managed, the reason for the income, and also where the money was going.
‘She has intervened directly acquiring some assets in joint use and directly receiving up to three bank transfers for different amounts.’
Mr Carrau revealed that a judge in Majorca’s capital P alma has signed an order to commence the prosecu - tion against the couple.
He also warned that arrest warrants would be issued if they did not attend court. P rosecutors are waiting to receive the defence case and a date has yet to be fixed for the trial.
In the indictment, Mr Carrau says: ‘In Spain during years 2004 and 2006 Brown carried out various acquisi - tions of assets such as properties, vehicles and a boat with money from his criminal activities. He also moved funds between his bank accounts, including large withdrawals of cash.
‘Campbell knows the criminal ori - gins of the funds and helped him to hide their origin and destination.
‘The two accused dedicated them - selves to managing and hiding funds. They came from criminal activities.
They had full knowledge it came from criminal activities.
‘They created companies and used bank accounts in Spain to manage big quantities, to proceed to cover up the origins and enjoy these sums.’
The prosecutor wants Brown jailed for five years and fined £5.3million, with three years and five months in prison and a £2.7million fine for Miss Campbell. Assets including the villa in Esporles should be seized, he adds.
Brown, who once had plush offices in Mayfair, was first arrested at his villa near Esporles in 2006 over a fraud in the UK and hauled back to London to face trial. He had been posing as a bond trader to take money from clients who believed he was educated at Gordonstoun and St Andrews, the son of a lord and that they were being vetted by US embassy officials and Special Branch.
Lib Dem peer Lord Strasburger put up £250,000 bail money for Brown after he was charged in the UK, only to see him go on the run for more than three years. He was convicted in his absence.
Miss Campbell declined to comment on behalf of her and her husband this week.